Cheddar Chipotle Puffs that were paired with Rogue Chipotle Ale.  Cleverness!

To briefly recap, the idea behind the party was to pair a craft beer with a food item that you made.  I really wanted to bring a Rogue beer since it fit the criteria of a craft beer and it’s also easy for me to get my hands on.  Then I had to decide what to pair it with.  Once I knew that I was going to use the Chipotle Ale then a dish utilizing chipotles was the obvious choice.

I didn’t want the chipotles to be too overpowering though.  They can really bring the heat and I wanted to keep the heat level moderate enough that you could tell it was there but it didn’t blow your socks off.

I decided to make little “puffs” because they are bite size and would be super easy to transport.  After a few tweakings I got the recipe down.  It is a food of love type recipe which means it will take you some time but it’s totally worth it!

Andrea’s Cheddar Chipotle Puffs

• 2C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
• 1C Unbleached All Purpose Flour
• 1/2tsp Baking Soda
• 1tsp Salt
• 2tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2tsp Chili Powder
• 1/2tsp Smoked Paprika
• 1/2C Water
• 1/2C Light Olive Oil
• 2 Chipotle peppers + 2 tsp of the adobo sauce
• 1tsp Honey
• 1C Grated Cheddar Cheese

In a large mixing bowl add in the flours, baking soda, salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika.  Whisk until combined.  Place mixing bowl in fridge.  Also in the fridge place the 1/2C of water and 1/2C of olive oil.  Allow to chill for at least half an hour.

Then add the dry ingredients to a stand mixer bowl.  In a food processor, add in the water, oil, chipotles with sauce, and the honey.  Pulse until the chipotles are broken down and fully incorporated into the wet ingredients.  Add this mixture to the dry ingredients gently combining them all.  The dough will be dense and thick.  Once the ingredients are combined, add in the shredded cheddar until it is mixed throughout the dough.

Roll the dough out onto a flat surface sprinkled with flour and give it a few extra kneads.  Wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge for an hour or until it sets back up.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment or a silpat.  Remove from fridge and split dough into two parts.  One part goes back in the fridge while you work with the remaining half.  On a floured surface roll dough out till about a 1/4 of an inch thick.  Using a small round cookie or biscuit cutter, cut dough into several pieces.  Rerolling out the dough as needed.  You should get several puffs just from one half of the dough.  Place puffs on cookie sheet and they can be relatively close together.  They “puff” up not out.  Bake for about 10 minutes.  The puffs should be “puffed” and springy to the touch.  Remove from cookie sheet and allow to cool.

Repeat with remaining half of the dough.

These are best served slightly warm but can be eaten at room temperature as well.  Depending on the size of the cutter you use will determine how many puffs you end up with.  I used a small biscuit cutter that was almost 2 inches in diameter which resulted in a ton of puffs!  YaY!

These puffs smell so so good as they are baking!  They are also mighty tasty too! Scott loved them and so did I.  These also freeze very well and can be pulled out when you want a quick snack or a quick appetizer for guests.

I also made these subbing in some spelt flour instead of the whole wheat and they worked just as well.  You can add more cheese if you like, just keep in mind that you want these to puff up, so too much cheese might inhibit that a bit.

Using cold ingredients helps make these puffs puff!  I have also made a batch with cold ingredients but did not put the dough in the fridge before rolling it out and baking.  It turned out alright and will work if you are short on time.  However if you have the time, allow the dough to chill for a bit first.  It makes the puffs a little more fluffy.

So how did these pair with the Chipotle Ale?  AMAZING!  A bite of puff followed with a swish of ale totally brought out the chipotle flavor of the ale a great deal.  The ale became spicy with some heat at the finish creating a very unique drinking experience.  Since the ale is cold, the spicy and heat give your taste-buds a sort of tingle that they weren’t expecting.

These little puffs are great for entertaining or bringing to your next potluck.  If you like savory flavors and cheese, you’ll love these!

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food!  Enjoy!

This is the concept that made me fall in love with quinoa and realize that there’s more this little grain then just being regulated to standard side dish status.

Do you ever think that foods aspire to be the main dish? The star of the show?  Or is that just me?

Just me?  Okay then.

Quinola is super easy to make and put together.  It does take a while to bake and that’s the longest part of this recipe.

Andrea’s Quinola

• 1C Uncooked Quinola
• 2C Water
• 1C Soymilk
• 2TBSP Maple Syrup
• 1/3C Peanut Butter (the good kind!)
• 1tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2tsp Ground cinnamon

In a medium sauce pan add the water and bring to a boil.  Add the quinoa and cook until it’s done, about 15-20 minutes.  Fluff, place in a large mixing bowl, and then set aside letting it cool.

In a smaller mixing bowl, combine the soymilk, peanut butter, extract, and maple syrup.  Stir until the peanut butter breaks up a bit and blends into the soymilk.

Once the quinoa is cool, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Add the cinnamon to the quinoa and stir.  Then add in the soymilk and peanut butter mixture, stirring till combined.

Line a large cookie sheet, either with parchment or foil.  If using foil, spray with nonstick spray.  Spread the quinoa mixture onto the cookie sheet in a thin layer.  Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes.

Yup, 50 minutes.  It takes a while to dry out and get crunchy.  When it’s dried out and crispy, remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before eating.

As the quinola is baking, you do need to keep half an eye on it just to make sure it doesn’t burn in places that are really thin.  If you’re using a convection oven, it probably won’t take a whole 50 minutes but will still at least take 30 minutes.

Quinola is crunchy and nutty.  The peanut butter gives it a nice background flavor which is accentuated by the cinnamon.

The first time Scott and I had this we fell in love immediately.  It is so tasty!  It is great to eat on it’s own or mixed in with some yogurt.

Kept in an air tight container, it lasts for a long while.  It’s a great way to utilize quinoa in a new way and if you’ve got leftover quinoa, a nice way to get it used up!

Have fun guys and remember, always play with your food!  Enjoy!

This was actually my first baking experiment with quinoa.  I wanted something that sort of reminded me of fall, cozy times, and early sunsets.

These cookies totally deliver and are actually one of the few cookies that get better with time!

Andrea’s Quinoa Spice Cookies

• 1.5C Cooked Quinoa
• 1C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour + 4 TBSP
• 2tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2tsp Allspice
• 1/2tsp Ground Clove
• 1/2tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4tsp Baking Soda
• 2TBSP Sugar
• 2TBSP Ground Flax
• 1/2C Dried Cranberries
• 1/2C Crushed/chopped Walnuts
• 1C Soymilk
• 2TBSP Molasses
• 2tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.  In medium sized mixing bowl, combine soymilk, vanilla, and molasses.  Whisk until combined, set aside.  In a large mixing bowl combine all remaining ingredients.  Mix until everything is combined.  The flour will start to coat the quinoa.  Add in the liquid mixture to the quinoa mixture slowly.  Stir until everything is combined.  If the mixture seems thick and like you might need more liquid, add a splash more of soymilk.

On a lined or greased cookie sheet, drop the cookie mixture by the spoonful. These take a little bit longer to cook than regular cookies.  About 12 minutes or a few minutes longer.  Just until the cookies firm up and a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool for a few minutes and then serve.

I know that looks like a lot of ingredients but don’t let it scare you away!  It’s mostly spices and these cookies are really easy to put together.

These cookies turned out exactly like I was hoping they would! They remind me of a nice spice or gingerbread cookie that are common around the holidays.  Every time Scott and I eat these cookies, the phrase, “Dang this are some good cookies!” is frequently heard.

What I’m finding with quinoa is that it does make batters heavy and increases the cooking time.  This is the case the with the cookies, they cook longer than regular cookies.  Just keep an eye on them to make sure you don’t over cook them.

Just an FYI, all the cookies (and most everything actually) I make freeze wonderfully.  This cookies will last in the freezer and just zap them quick in the microwave when you want a nibble.

These cookies are chewy, crunchy, and spicy.  They are perfect little bites of a healthy dessert.

Have fun guys and remember, always play with your food!  Enjoy!

At some point I think Whole Foods might have changed their recipe because I don’t care for their version anymore.  Something about it just tastes off and I can’t quite put my finger on it.  I never really thought about soda bread again after that until I came across Happy Herbivore’s recipe for Irish Soda Bread.

It was her recipe where I learned that one could curdle non-dairy milk with a little bit of acid, either lemon juice or apple-cider vinegar.  Did you know that?  I didn’t so I was excited to learn something new!

Why curdle non-dairy milk? Because traditional soda bread calls for buttermilk but if you are looking to keep things vegan you need an alternative.  I remembered from my smoothie making that cranberry juice will also cause soymilk to curdle, although you need equal parts of cranberry juice and soymilk.  I decided to run with that concept and make my own version of Irish Soda Bread.

Andrea’s Cranberry Irish Soda Bread

• 3C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
• 1C Unbleached All Purpose Flour
• 1C Unsweetened Cranberry Juice
• 1C Soymilk
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1C Dried Cranberries
• 2TBSP Organic Cane Sugar

Preheat oven to 350.  In a small mixing bowl, combine cranberry juice and soymilk, set aside for about five minutes.  The soymilk will start to curdle and separate.  In a large mixing bowl, combine all the other ingredients and whisk together.    Slowly add in the liquid mixture and stilr until everything is combined.  The dough will be sticky but will come together to form a heavy dough.  If needed, a splash more soymilk will help the dough form if there is still some flour not incorporated.

Sprinkle flour on a flat surface and kneed the dough for about a minute.  Dough will still be sticky.  Form into a large round loaf and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  You can make a large X across the top of the dough with a knife to create the look of four sections.

Bake for about 40 minutes (could be longer) or until the bread has set.  A toothpick should come out clean.  Allow to cool before slicing.

I expected the bread to be tasty but didn’t quite expect it to be amazing, which it is.  Both of us love this bread!  It has just the right amount of sweetness to it that makes you want to keep eating and eating.  I used cranberries because I like them over raisins in baked goods.  Plus they have a great color which leads well to presentation.  Raisins don’t have a lot going for them in the aesthetic department.

The Irish Soda Bread that I’ve had before had been really dry.  This bread is not.  It is not a super moist bread like a quick bread but it is not dry like a biscuit.  It holds together well and has a nice soft chewy bite to it.

It’s great at room temperature and also slightly toasted.  Goes well with coffee and a nice accompaniment with yogurt and granola.  I sliced mine up and froze the slices for easy access when the mood strikes.

Now that I have the method of curdling soymilk under my belt, who knows what else is in store!

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food!  Enjoy!

When I originally made this, I did add in some grated parm but left out the nuts.  This turned into an amazing spread and dip.  We instantly fell in love with the smooth spinach and the sweet chewiness of the sundried tomatoes.  The concept is super easy and can be adjusted to fit your tastes!

I never measure when I make this recipe, so this is more of a concept type post than an actual recipe with measurements.

Andrea’s Spinach and Sundried Tomato Dip

• Fresh baby spinach
• Sundried tomatoes (marinated or unmarinated, it’s up to you)
• 1 garlic clove
• Olive oil
• Black Pepper
• Red pepper flakes

You will need a food processor to make this dip.   In the food processor combine about three large handfuls of spinach and roughly 8-9 sundried tomatoes along with the garlic clove (peeled of course).  Pulse a few times to get things moving along and broken down.  Then add in the black pepper, just a touch, and a pinch of the red pepper flakes.  If using marinated tomatoes in oil, drizzle in a bit of that oil.  Otherwise use a bit of your own olive oil, just a touch, about 1 tsp.  Pulse until everything is well combined and almost smooth looking.  You want to be able to see bits of spinach and tomato together.

Scoop in a dish and serve! Either as a dip with crackers, on pizza instead of sauce, or even as a sandwich spread.

The first time I made this I did use it as a sandwich spread for a chicken sandwich and it was probably one of the best chicken sandwiches we ever had!  I now use it as a base for my pizzas on occasion.  I always have sundried tomatoes on hand now, or at least I try to.  Whole Foods actually has some great ones they put out but you have to seriously look for them.  They are in little containers and usually found around the olive and antipasto station.

I have served this as a dip at parties with crackers and chips.  I’ll add in some cheese if no one has an allergy to it.  I’ve mixed this with some cream cheese to make a lovely little spread for crackers and bread as well.  Mixed with the cream cheese it looks pretty and tastes fantastic.  II have also mixed this into some scrambled eggs for a different twist to breakfast.  And I’ve added it to polenta just for kicks.  There’s so much you can do with this mixture!

I don’t add salt because I use marinated tomatoes which have plenty of seasoning.  If using plain, I would add in a pinch of salt and maybe some Italian seasoning.

You can make this ahead of time, up to a day before you need it.  Possibly two, but I wouldn’t go longer than that or the spinach starts to turn on you.

If you like pesto style dips and spreads, give this a try!

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food!  Enjoy!

Those were his exact words.

Dude.  I don’t even know where he pulled that from! But in this house, whatever my hunny wants is what he’s going to get.

I poured over some websites and several of my favorite cookbooks and came up with a game plan.

This is how I work. I review several recipes to get an idea of how something is done and then I make my own version.

I fully expect that everyone else operates this way as well.  In my head no one follows a recipe exactly, we are all just a bunch of Kitchen Rogues blazing a path with a chef’s knife in one hand and a kitchen blow torch in the other.

Or something like that.

Andrea’s Cinnamon Vanilla Cupcakes

• 1/2C Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
• 1tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4tsp Baking Soda
• 2tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 3TBSP Cane Sugar
• Pinch salt
• 2/3C Vanilla Soymilk + 1 TBSP
• 2 1/2tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2TBSP Light Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large mixing bowl, add all dry ingredients and whisk together until everything is combined and “fluffy” looking.  In a smaller mixing bowl, combine soymilk, vanilla extract, and olive oil.  Mix and then slowly add that to the flour mixture.  Gently stir the ingredients together.

Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.  Fill with cupcake batter about halfway full.  Bake for about 7-10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Remove from oven and allow to cool

Makes about 10 cupcakes.

These were my first attempt at vegan cupcake making (remember I prefer to bake vegan).  I’ve been making cookies and such for a while now so I figured it was time to branch out.  Good suggestion Scott!

Aside from the fact that these stuck to the liners a bit more than I would have liked, they came out totally awesome.  Due to the WW flour they are slightly denser than a regular cupcake but that’s okay because we like that taste.

We ate them unfrosted but you could totally top them with a chocolate ganche of some sort.  I’m still working on making a great vegan icing that doesn’t include a ton of powdered sugar and fake shortening (ew).

Hooray cupcakes!

Have fun guys and remember, always play with your food!  Enjoy!

From that point we were hooked and would purchase it on occasion when making a Whole Foods trip.  However, like most things at Whole Foods, their pudding was overpriced and on the small side (sorry WF but you know it’s true).  I decided to look into making my own.  I checked a few recipes online just to get a basic idea of what is needed, reviewed the ingredient list of the Whole Foods version and started experimenting.

What I am currently doing takes no more than like five minutes prep time and uses only four ingredients.  It’s still a work in progress but so far it’s damn tasty and when your husband begs you to make him some Vegan Chocolate Pudding, it’s safe to assume you are on the right track.

Andrea’s Vegan Chocolate Pudding

• 1 pkg. (1lb) of organic silken tofu
• 4TBSP (heaping) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 4TBSP Maple Syrup
• Pinch (1/2tsp) of Organic Unrefined Cane Sugar

Drain as much of the liquid off of the tofu that you can and dump into a blender.  Add in the other ingredients and blend until everything is well combined.  Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours.  Allowing the tofu to set back up.  Spoon into dishes and enjoy!

P.S. Or just eat straight from the bowl like we do!

I’m trying to experiment with different tofu textures because while this is a great pudding, it isn’t quite as thick as I would like it to be.  The one from Whole Foods was extremely thick and decadent but they also used silken tofu so I’m not sure how they achieved that.  I tried straining the tofu to get as much liquid out as I could but that didn’t really help matters.  I think maybe I need to not use the silken and try a slightly firmer tofu.

The pinch of cane sugar gives it just the right amount of sweetness that you won’t get from only using maple syrup.  I tried using only cane sugar and the texture ends up being a little bit grainy.  This combo works out really well, if you like sweeter though, then by all means use more sugar to suit your tastes.

You can use a food processor to mix if you don’t have a blender.

I like the concept because it presented me with a different way to view tofu.  Like I mentioned, I’m not a huge tofu fan.  The texture is weird and even marinaded, it tastes bland to me.  Creating this pudding gave me a chance to work with tofu in a new way and I realized that tofu doesn’t just have to be baked or stir-fried.  It has loads of possibilities!

This is a great tasting treat!  A lovely dessert that you can feel good about eating.  Pair it with some red wine and you have a great dessert on your hands.

Enjoy! And remember, always play your food!

I have never eaten this snack mix before.  First of all it’s covered in powdered sugar which means it’s gonna be major sweet.  And secondly, it’s called Puppy Chow for frack’s sake.  I’m not eating that.  At the risk of sounding totally snotty, I don’t even feed my dog kibble, you think I’m gonna touch something that is named after some crappy dog food?

Fat chance.

I don’t know what prompted me to look into this snack mix a bit further but I did and realized that it’s pretty easy to make.

I decided to come up with my own recipe because most of the other recipes I saw used lots of butter or shortening.  Even the vegan versions used vegan shortening.

Totally unnecessary!  I knew I could come up with something better AND it’s not named after a really crappy dog food, it has a festive cute name instead.  If you don’t dig on Reindeer Crunch, feel free to call it “Stuff” or “Addicting” instead, I won’t be mad at ya.

Andrea’s Reindeer Crunch

• 4C of Kashi Honey Heart to Heart Cereal
• 2C Mini pretzels
• 1C Unsweetened Banana Chips
• 1.5C Dark chcolate chips
• 1/2C All natural Peanut Butter
• 1/2TBSP Coconut oil
• 2.5C Powdered sugar

In a very large bowl mix the cereal, pretzels, and banana chips together.  In a double boiler, melt the chocolate, peanut butter, and coconut oil together until smooth and creamy.  Remove from heat and pour over top of the mixture in the bowl.  Stir to make sure everything is coated with the chocolate mixture.  Start adding in the powdered sugar until everything is white and covered in sugar.

Immediately start stuffing your face with your new snack mix.

I used coconut oil in place of the butter and shortening I saw in other recipes.  I also decreased the amount a great deal.  Using several tablespoons of butter or shortening is totally unnecessary and a bit excessive.  In fact I don’t even think the coconut oil is even required.  I bet this would work just as well without it.

I like Kashi cereals but if you want to use Honey Nut Cheerios instead, knock yourself out.  That would work just fine.

You probably could melt the chocolate, peanut butter, and coconut oil in the microwave but a double boiler is super easy to make and I think results in a creamier better tasting chocolate.  If you want to try the microwave, give it a shot, I’m not making any promises though!

I do have two sticking points.

1. Don’t use crap chocolate, get good chocolate.  This means bypass the Hershey’s or store brand chips and get yourself some nice chocolate.  I used Ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate chips.

2. When I say all natural peanut butter, I mean it.  No Jif, or Skippy, or anything like that.  I am talking peanut butter where the ingredients consist of two items: peanuts and salt.  That’s it.  The kind of peanut butter you have to stir first and then store in the fridge.  Trust me, your body and your friends will thank you for this choice.

This is a recipe that is easy and can be done in like 5 minutes.  It’s also a recipe that can make a ton if you need it for parties or perhaps for some gift giving.

Happy Holidays!

I also always purchased granola because for some reason I had it in my head that it was hard to make.  Eventually I started realizing how much money I was spending on granola because granola is flipping expensive!  I also became aware of how much sugar was in the granola.  I’m not a big sugar person anyway and when I realized just how much sugar is in manufactured granola, I sort of silently freaked out. I personally don’t want or need that much sugar in my life.

It was at this point that I started making my own granola.  It was a rocky start that resulted in plenty of burnt batches.  Lesson learned, granola is a project of love. Slow, easy, and steady will get you the results you want.  Aggression and haste will just leave you frustrated and unsatisfied.  None of us want that!

Andrea’s Homemade Granola

• 4C Old Fashioned Oats
• 2TBSP Light Olive oil
• 1/4C Maple Syrup
• 3tsp of ground cinnamon
• Fresh grated nutmeg, to taste (I do about 1/2 tsp)
• 1C each crushed raw pecans and raw walnuts
• 1/2C Unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1C dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl combine, oats, nuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, oil and maple syrup.  It takes about 3 minutes of stirring for everything to combine.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes.

On a large cookie sheet, line with foil and spray with nonstick spray (or use a mister with oil of your choice).  Dump oat mixture onto the cookie sheet and spread out.  Place in the oven and stir the mixture about every 10 minutes.  Bake the oat mixture for about 25-30 minutes.  The last five minutes of baking, mix in the coconut.

When the granola is browned and crispy remove from oven and allow to cool.  About 15 minutes.  When the granola is cooled, mix in the cranberries.  Store the granola in an airtight container.  Mixture keeps for ages so no worries about it turning on you.

Once I started making my own granola, I have turned into a huge granola snob.  Either I don’t care for the taste of other granolas or the ingredient list isn’t something that appeals to me.  Recently I came across some granola that had powdered milk as an ingredient.  Wha the what?  Why in the world is there powdered milk in granola?

So yeah, I’m totally picky now.

This is a loose granola.  This granola will not provide you with big cluster pieces.  In order to get that kind of granola, a lot of oil and liquid sugars are needed and that’s not something I’m down with.  If that’s what you like, feel free to up the oil and maple syrup amounts and see what happens.

This granola is awesome with yogurt, sprinkled on top of oatmeal, or even salads.  In fact I’m currently out and need to make more!  I suppose I should get moving.  The smell of baking granola is amazing and instantly makes the house that much cozier.

Zucchini bread, yes.  But it was always the same way, spicy and more along the lines of like a carrot cake, spice cake kind of taste.  Lots of cinnamon, clove, and allspice in the mix.

That wasn’t exactly what I envisioned.  I wanted a dense chocolate quick bread with some zucchini in it.  I started looking around for recipes to see what I could find.  There were loads out there!

But they all had tons of sugar, white flour, and a load of eggs in them.

This is where my knack to never follow a recipe comes in handy.  I looked at the recipes to get an idea of the basic ingredients and then I created my own chocolate zucchini bread recipe.

Andrea’s Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Wet Ingredients:

• 2C shredded zucchini
• 1/3C light olive oil
• 1 egg white (or 3 TBSP of egg whites from a carton)
• 1C soymilk (plus a few extra splashes at the end)

Dry Ingredients:

• 2C Whole Wheat Pastry flour (or regular WW flour is fine)
• 1C Unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2tsp Baking soda
• 2tsp Baking powder
• 1/4C Cane sugar
• 4TBSP Unsweetened Dark Chocolate Powder
• 2TBSP Ground flax
• 2tsp Ground cinnamon
• Freshly grated nutmeg (about 1/2tsp)
• Pinch cayenne pepper (just a small, very wee pinch)
• Pinch kosher salt (very small amount)
• 1.5C Dark chocolate chips (can use milk if prefer)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients.  In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients, making sure everything is incorporated.  Then slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring gently to combine everything.  You want to fold everything together, easily as possible.  This is a very thick and dense mixture.  You may need to add a few splashes of soymilk in to help the ingredients combine and move along.  However do not add more than an extra 1/3C.  Add in the extra amount a tablespoon at a time.  This will help keep the mixture thick and dense.

Once everything is combined, place mixture in a loaf pan (I used a 9×5x3 loaf glass pan) that was sprayed with nonstick spray.  Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.  Or until a toothpick inserted in the center (highest peak) comes out clean.

Allow to cool for about 10 minutes or so, then slice and enjoy!

Let me state right up front that this is not a very sweet bread.  You can see from the ingredients, I’m only adding in 1/4C of cane sugar.  I don’t care for sweets much and most recipes called for something like 2C or so of sugar.  Holy crap that’s a lot of sugar!  Not for this sister!  A quarter cup of sugar is plenty.  This is a decedent and rich chocolate zucchini bread and beyond amazing.  I was so pleased with the way this came out and both Scott and I adore it.

Now let’s talk about the ingredients a bit.  To me, this is a very healthy snack.  I like to snack every so often and I like to indulge my wild side but at the same time, I like keeping things healthy.  It’s how I prefer to be, and this bread makes for a nice healthy treat.

Do you have to use whole wheat flour?  No, if you want to use all purpose for the whole thing, knock your socks off!  If you want to add more sugar, go for it. If you don’t have ground flax, don’t sweat it!  You can also use regular milk too if you like.

I like organic cane sugar because it’s healthier but if you have white sugar on hand, you can use that.

I also use olive oil because if I have to add oil to a recipe, it’s going to be a good oil.  If you have vegetable or canola, feel free to use that.  I like olive because of it’s added health benefits.

This is my vision of what a perfect chocolate zucchini bread is like.  The beauty of recipes is that we can play around with ingredients!  So you can do whatever your little heart desires.

I encourage you to not forget the cayenne though because it adds such a nice warmth to the flavor.  Cinnamon is very spicy and provides a nice heat.  The addition of cayenne takes that heat a little bit further and gives it some depth as well.  Trust me on this, go for the cayenne!

I have used vanilla and plain soymilk in this recipe and both work very well.  I also have used milk and dark chocolate chips, and again, both work really well.  My preferred chocolate powder is Ghirardelli but use whatever you have on hand.

I’ve also made this into muffins instead of a loaf, and they also came out great!  Makes just shy of 24 muffins.  Cook time is reduced to about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

This also makes for a great prerun snack the night before a morning run.   It’s carblicious and dense so it sticks with you.  I can also tell you that the chocolate zucchini bread goes great with red wine, white wine, and beer.  Pumpkin beer is a fabbo accompaniment!

If you’re craving some chocolate, give this bread a try and tell me what you think!

ETA: I also wanted to mention that this bread freezes very well.  Stick in a freezer bag and forget about it till you need a little chocolaty snack.

Remember guys, have fun and always play with your food!  Enjoy!